hey everyone, I should be in Potrero Chico from dec 20 to the end of march. I'll be going on my own and want to meet some R.C.com climbers who will be there in december before i go. Also if you are an experienced climber preferably with your own gear who is looking for a good partner with experience and gear for dec 20 and onward, please send me an email to vadik8745@hotmail.com

And a question for those who have been there before. If I plan to pitch a tent for the most part, is there somewhere that i can leave extra gear while i go climbing, such as the tent, sleeping bag etc. thx for the replies in advance Vadik

Stay at one of the campgrounds. It only costs a few dollars a day. La Quinta Pagoda has a walled campground, with personnel around all day to watch your gear. Plus you get to use their kitchen, showers, and the people are real friendly.

Potrero Chico is a sweet place you'll meet tons of climbers and find a parter. Many of the locals ride bikes to the cliffs so if you cant find a partner at camp go looking for one up in the canyon by the pools or mota wall. Homero's place is sweet and less expensive than the other one mentioned above. no one should take your stuff everybody just leaves their tents up. If you're really worried about it get a room at the place mentioned above which is across the street from homero's ranch. if you contact homero or milton from homero's ranch you can arrange for them to pick you up in monterrey at the airport

awsome thanks for the information i took a look at homero's website i thnk that's where i'll stay.. btw what's a general range of weekly food costs for a light-medium weight eater at potrero. Trying to do some budgeting lol.

food wasn't much money but it is cheaper to buy canned stuff and oatmeal and bring it with you. There are usually pots and pans and gas stoves around camp and you can always bum stuff off of people. Don't rely on buying food in town or at restaurants cause nothing in mexico has hours of operation its more like "hours we feel like being open - sorta" Anyway the bi-weekly market has cheap food and the restaurants are pretty inexpensive. Try getting tacos at the place near the entrance to homeros on the main road there. Or have homero make you some food but he is more expensive you should get a group of people together and have homero make you a goat if you're adventurous. Mexican tradition for special occasions and one of the coolest meals i've ever had. Tongue brains and eyeballs are considered delicacy.

The food is awesome. Most of it is made with fresh ingredients straight from the farm. Not like the crap produce in the US that gets picked long before ripe and sits around in warehouses for months.

I enjoyed Homero's restaurant. The food is all homemade by Patty, and the staff is very nice. If you tip them a dollar her and there, they will treat you like kings for your entire trip. Its really just a small kitchen with some outdoor tables. They don't really have a menu, and they usually only have one main course each meal. But its always something good, and Patty will always make you tacos or quesadillas if you don't like what they are serving. Prices are cheap, about $4-5 will buy you dinner and a 40.

The Posada restaurant is quite nice and has a full menu, but a bit pricier (by a couple bucks maybe) than Homero's restaurant, and the wait for a table & service can be longer (esp. around New Years).

The local restaurants are very good, and I def suggest you treat youself to them. But since you're gonna be down for so long, I agree that you should make some of your own meals. Most of the campgrounds have a public cooking area with real stoves and sinks to cook and cleanup. Like the other post says, there are usually public pots to cook with. Or you can bring a small set of camp pots to be safe.

The water is typically safe to drink. They get fresh spring water from the mountains, and all the climbers drink it with no problem. But a guy I know was down there a few years back and the spring was dry that year, so I think they had to buy bottled water. I was down for 2005 New Year and there was plenty of spring water.

and how much does it normally cost in bus/taxi fair to get to patrero chico from the airport?

Yeah, you can leave your tent set up the whole time, and leave you sleeping bag, clothes in it. The campgrounds (La Pagoda at least) have a guy that watches the campground all day.

The taxi ride is about an hour. I don't remember how much it is. Maybe $30 or so? The airport has a counter where you get a taxi and tell them where you are going, and the cabs are all well marked and run by the government. So there is no sketchness involved with taking a "fake" cab. You can't miss the counter. Right when you get out of the terminal, the attendant at the counter is yelling "Taxi".

Most of the cabbies don't speak English. But they should know how to get to Potrero. Its a pretty well known destination in that area. So just tell the guy at the taxi counter (who speaks English) that you are going to El Potrero Chico, and you should be set. They should automatically drive you down the main road that goes into the canyon/park. All of the campgrounds are right on this road, so you should see your particular as you get close. All of the campground websites have directions, so bring those with, also.

Its possible that you will meet someone on the plane and you can split the cab fare. Or find someone on this site and team up w. them.